And So She Discovered
by ChibotleKentucky
Summary: Adelaide was born not knowing what she was or why the person holding her was crying (ShipChild OneShot, Canon Divergence)


Adelaide was born not knowing what she was or why the person holding her was crying.

She looked up at the figure who was cradling her and tried to reach up to touch their face, little hands flailing in the air. The person seemed to know immediately what she wanted, leaning down slightly, and she mapped their face out with her hands.

She didn't know why one of her eyes could see so much better than the other.

When she hit 5, her dad told her she was half admin. A demi-god. Her mum was a human. She asked who her mum was. He paused and didn't answer.

She figured her mum must have either pink, purple or white hair, because her dad had flaming red hair and she herself had pink.

She looked down at her skin and didn't like how it looked. Half of it was a pale sort of peach colour, half was a greyed navy.

Her dad's name was Romeo, she knew. But he asked her to refer to him as dad or father strictly, and to not tell others his real name. She agreed, confused.

She was 9 when her dad told her her mother's name. Xara. He also told her this information couldn't get out, like his name. She asked him if Xara was dead. He said she wasn't, but didn't tell her where she was.

She looked into a reflective surface and decided if he wasn't going to take her to her mum, she would find her herself. Her mother must have black irises and white pupils, as one of her eyes was (the other was a blood red and gold). She must have pink, purple or white hair, and she was probably human.

She started asking around.

At 10 she was told about someone called prisoner X. She wandered down where the guards told her.

And saw a woman sat in the corner of a room rigged with explosives, head in her hands.

She wanted to say something, but suddenly felt she shouldn't be here. So she teleported away just before the woman raised her head.

She hid this visit for 2 years and tried to forget about it.

At 12, she broke and asked her dad why her mum was locked up. He had frozen, expression as if he had just been struck, before shouting at her.

She would have been more hurt if it wasn't for the raw pain on his face. He clearly wanted to protect her from something.

It was a while before she realized that was himself.

At 13 she knew they had a fight because of... Something. He didn't elaborate. He removed her powers and locked her up before she could kill him.

She was bewildered to how exactly she existed then. If they made her while they were still on good terms she would be a full admin, right? And if it was after... Why on earth would they have a kid if they literally had to hold back from killing each other?

She expressed this to her dad and angrily asked if he.. Well.. Made her by force. He had looked offended and angry and she knew he hadn't. Not that she thought he was the kind of person to - it was just a concern in the back of her head. So she asked him why. How.

He said that you didn't have to be in love to make a child. You also don't need to be intending to make a child. There was just.. A lot of raw fresh emotion.

He also said before and after there was a lot of fighting.

At 14 she realized this meant she was a mistake.

Something felt empty inside of her.

She visited her mum properly then. Once again without telling her dad.

Her mum - Xara - looked shocked and horrified and haunted. Addie would have been scared she would hurt her had there not been something on her face that just... Told her that this person would rather die than hurt her.

She asked someone in the underneath while disguised.

They told her it was maternal instinct. Motherly love.

She couldn't quite imagine the insane, gnashing-teeth and hyper swearing woman down there being all cuddly and motherly but took their word for it.

She visited her sometimes. Didn't answer when she was begged to let her out. Sometimes left early to hide the tears streaming down her face.

Sometimes Xara would scream and be inconsolable. Sometimes she was silent and Addie couldn't coax a single word from her. Sometimes she cried.

Her crying was the worst.

At 15, her dad set his sights on Jesse.

She met him and the others in the sunshine institute. Her mother was... Free.

She stared at the older woman for several seconds, before receiving a violent hug.

Ok. Maybe her mum was a bit.. Bad at showing affection.

But the pain in her side was ignored from the warmth in her heart. She wished she could have had this as a child.

And then she had followed after them, ignoring the pain she felt at inadvertently working against her father. Because on one of her visits Xara had coldly told her what he'd done. Why she was truly imprisoned.

She had felt too sick to speak to him for several days after that.

Jesse was.. Interesting. Dark hair and dark skin and peircing green eyes. The way he looked at the Petra girl made Addie smile without realizing.

'So that's.. Love?'

Petra was funny. Bright and brave and determined, though with insecurities that grounded her.

Lluna was very cute. Very fluffy, too.

Her mum was... She was the same but so much different. Freer. Full of... An odd sort of hope and drive she had lacked before.

Jack and Radar never really made an impact. They were both unique but neither truly made her think about how their lives must have been to lead up to this like the others did. The only thing she really noticed about Jack was how abrasive he was, and that he was missing an eye.

Then Amy.

Amy was a tag-along as well, apparently. A child from a broken family just like her. Her parents were 'Hadrien and Mevia', old builders who killed and enslaved others for personal amusement.

She stuck by Amy more than she did the others. There was a sense of camaraderie they had that she just didn't feel with the others.

In the final fight against her dad, she couldn't be there. She could have helped. But she waited outside the terminal. Couldn't stand the idea of seeing the betrayal on her dad's face at her working to take him down.

And then he came out, eyes blue with gold flecks, sclera white, wearing a grey shirt and torn jeans.

With a daze in her mind, somewhere in the back of her head reminded her that today was her 16th birthday.

And she really couldn't decide if it was the worst or best birthday ever.

Romeo helped around town before leaving to meet Xara. Addie desperately wanted to go along with but couldn't bring herself to watch a likely fight between her two parents.

She sat atop a roof and smiled weakly when Jesse sat next to her.

"Am.. I going to stay like this?" she hummed, partially to herself and partially to him, looking down at the mismatched colour of her hands. "Are you going to take my powers away too?" she looked at him.

He chuckled slightly. "We don't have any reason to them. So long as you don't go full crazy on us like your dad, we'll leave you to them"

She looked down at the bustle of the streets below them. "It feels like it's been an eternity to get to this point in time. This moment" she held her hands up to frame the scene. "It's surreal"

Jesse smiled. "In a good way?"

She nodded decisively after a moment. "In a good way"

The two stayed there until the sun set.


End file.
